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“To test the waters, I’m sure. My grandfather greeted him like an old friend, and he spoke to me as though he hadn’t robbed me of every innocence I ever had. That was the night I—” She closes her eyes. “The night I decided I didn’t want to live anymore.”

“Jules.” For a man who always has something to say, I’m struck speechless. What does one say to a person who’s been to hell and back?

“My grandfather put me in rehab the next day.”

I just stare at her for a few moments, completely unsure how to proceed when the only thing I can think about is putting an end to both Glen and Odie. I’ve killed before. In combat. In situations where it was me or them.

Is there a difference to what I’m feeling now? To the desire I have to end her suffering once and for all?

“Then what is it you consider your mistake?” I demand. “None of that is your fault.”

“I feel responsible for some of it. Maybe I did give him the impression that I wanted that kind of relationship.”

“You were sixteen!” I roar. “A child!”

She doesn’t even flinch. “Not to him, I wasn’t.”

“Jules.” I close the distance between us and kneel at her feet. “I need you to hear me. You did nothing wrong. Not then. Not now. Odie is wrong about you, and as far as I’m concerned, just as guilty as Glen.”

She closes her eyes. “I wanted so badly to tell my grandfather, but he was just so happy I was home, and I couldn’t bear to dull the light in his eyes. Something I did anyway because I couldn’t stop drinking. I couldn’t walk away from the one thing that made me forget everything.”

“You’re no longer that person. And he got to see that.”

More tears slip from her eyes. “He blamed himself. For all of it.” Her bottom lip quivers. “And I never got the chance to tell him it wasn’t his fault. That I didn’t run away. That he was the only happiness I had in my life.”

All I can picture is hunting Glen down.

Punishing him.

Killing him.

But right now, Jules needs me. And any vengeance I can carry out on her behalf will be nothing compared to the wrath God can bring raining down on top of that monster. So I swallow down the anger—for now.

“Can I—” I reach for her, not wanting to touch her in case she’s still stuck in the past. But when she nods and sets her tea aside then leans in, I wrap my arms around her and hold on.

“I’m not sure it has anything to do with my grandfather’s death, but I thought you should probably know just in case.”

I pull away. “This doesn’t change a thing for me,” I say, staring into her emerald eyes. “Not a single thing.” If anything, it makes me even more desperate to help her so that she might find some semblance of peace for the rest of her life.

“Why not?”

“Because I believe that God brought us together for a reason. I believe that He wants me to keep you safe because He has a bigger plan for your life. One that doesn’t include suffering.”

She shakes her head. “If I can’t forgive myself, how can I expect the Creator of the universe to forgive me?”

“He does,” I tell her. “You only need to reach out and take it. Talk to Him. Find your peace.”

“I don’t even know where to start.”

“Then let me help.” With one hand holding on to the back of her neck and the other cupping her face, I rest my forehead against hers.

“God, I come to you, asking for guidance for Jules. Lord, she is struggling to let go, please help her. Please take her past pain and show her the strength that only comes from trusting in You. Lord, please guide her steps. Please help her see that she is not who she once was but that she can be reborn in You. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.”

“That easy?”

“There’s nothing easy about turning to God in the storm,” I tell her. “But He is the only way to survive it.”

After Jules fell asleep on the couch, I couldn’t continue sitting still. I’d gone upstairs to grab my laptop then came back down so I could be here just in case she woke up. I don’t want her to be alone.

A quick search tells me that Glen Dodger has retired. They’d commended him for all the ‘good work’ he’d done overseas. The monster even received a medal for it.

I stare at his face. At his wide smile as he stares out of an image. The world sees a philanthropist; I see a monster. They see good, and all I can see is evil.

It’s nearly four in the morning, but I know that Tucker is working monitors tonight, so I set my laptop aside and tap his contact on my cell. Hovering in the doorway of the living room, I wait for him to answer.

“You’re bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning,” he says when he answers.

“Get me everything on a Glen Dodger. I want to know his home address, cell phone number, where he gets his coffee in the morning…everything.”

“Sure thing. Why?”

“Just do it.”

“Riley.” Tucker’s tone has shifted just in the short time we’ve been on the phone. “Tell me why I’m looking into this guy?”

“He’s an old friend of Edgar Landers’s, and I want to know if he had anything to do with what’s happening now.”

Tucker doesn’t immediately respond, and I sense he’s choosing the right words because, like me, he’s also furious. “I’ll gather that information for you, but there’s more to the story, and I want it before I deliver.”

“Fine. Also, if two or four of you can get here by the funeral tomorrow, you’ll likely prevent a murder. Or, at the very least, an assault charge on my record.”

“Care to elaborate on that one?”

“Odie Landers was responsible for immense suffering, and if he speaks to Jules in anything more than a positive tone tomorrow, I can’t promise I’ll handle it properly. I’ve already had to fight the urge to kick his door in a dozen times tonight.”

Once again, Tucker is quiet, though I hear some keys on his keyboard. “We’ll be wheels up in an hour. Don’t do anything until we get there.”

“Fantastic.” I end the call and cross my arms, studying Jules’s sleeping form. I’d sensed a darkness in her from the first moment I saw her picture. Now that I know exactly what put that haunted look in her eyes, the only thing I can think of is helping her remove it.

My mom always said that the devil attacks what God wants to use. There’s no doubt in my mind that the enemy turned his sights on Jules because of the light that was within her. Just as there’s no doubt in my mind that God has a plan for her. That she has a purpose greater than she can ever imagine.

I just have to keep her alive long enough to find it.

Lord, please keep her alive. Please guide me so I can put an end to her pain. And, God, please help me keep control of my temper. Help me heal this anger so I don’t do something foolish and bury both Glen and Odie six feet under right alongside Edgar. Amen.